The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car. The man behind the first car was German inventor Karl Benz, who built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.
It took a long time for cars to become widely available, replacing horse carriages and carts in the Western world. One of the first mass produced cars, accessible to the masses was the 1908 Ford Model T.
Since that time the concept behind the car has not changed much, but the performance, safety and technology have changed a lot over this period.
The technology is still making huge progress, being part of how combustion engines work to how we interact in traffic. It has been a long journey and some of the tech that we take granted is something that just few decades ago seemed something mystical and a good fit for sci-fi movies.
Halfords has put together a beautiful interactive piece about the evolution of car tech, spanning over a century, covering everything from the first car radio to concept hover cars.
Enjoy!
